diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index cb25314f4303b06d9d01d6ba162fbaf3ae9281c2..70fbc0a2daf406bd74d2dabe25386a6824203802 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -81,6 +81,7 @@ option(DD4HEP_LOAD_ASSIMP       "Download and build ASSIMP from github"
 option(BUILD_TESTING            "Enable and build tests"                        ON)
 option(BUILD_SHARED_LIBS        "If OFF build STATIC Libraries"                 ON)
 option(DD4HEP_SET_RPATH         "Link libraries with built-in RPATH (run-time search path)" ON)
+option(DD4HEP_RELAX_PYVER       "Do not require exact python version match with ROOT" OFF)
 
 SET(DD4HEP_BUILD_PACKAGES "DDRec DDDetectors DDCond DDAlign DDCAD DDDigi DDG4 DDEve UtilityApps"
   CACHE STRING "List of DD4hep packages to build")
diff --git a/cmake/DD4hepBuild.cmake b/cmake/DD4hepBuild.cmake
index 3d5d4bd8f3be725df8286d64705634c5c83ed6a3..20d08880c8b5772b80bb5b3ec38bd4bddb3b366e 100644
--- a/cmake/DD4hepBuild.cmake
+++ b/cmake/DD4hepBuild.cmake
@@ -686,9 +686,22 @@ macro(DD4HEP_SETUP_ROOT_TARGETS)
       SET(REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION ${ROOT_PYTHON_VERSION})
     ENDIF()
     dd4hep_debug("D++> Python version used for building ROOT ${ROOT_PYTHON_VERSION}" )
-    dd4hep_debug("D++> Required python version ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION}")
-    FIND_PACKAGE(Python ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION} EXACT REQUIRED COMPONENTS Development)
-    FIND_PACKAGE(Python ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION} EXACT QUIET COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+    if (NOT DD4HEP_RELAX_PYVER)
+      dd4hep_debug("D++> Required python version ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION}")
+      FIND_PACKAGE(Python ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION} EXACT REQUIRED COMPONENTS Development)
+      FIND_PACKAGE(Python ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION} EXACT QUIET COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+    else()
+      FIND_PACKAGE(Python REQUIRED COMPONENTS Development)
+      FIND_PACKAGE(Python QUIET COMPONENTS Interpreter)
+      dd4hep_debug("D++> Found python version ${Python_VERSION}")
+      string(REPLACE "." ";" _root_pyver_tuple ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION})
+      list(GET _root_pyver_tuple 0 _root_pyver_major)
+      list(GET _root_pyver_tuple 1 _root_pyver_minor)
+      if (NOT "${Python_VERSION_MAJOR}.${Python_VERSION_MINOR}" VERSION_EQUAL "${_root_pyver_major}.${_root_pyver_minor}")
+        dd4hep_print("WARNING: Mismatch in Python version: ${Python_VERSION} vs. ${REQUIRE_PYTHON_VERSION}")
+        dd4hep_print("         ABI compatibility should not be assumed!")
+      endif()
+    endif()
   ELSE()
     FIND_PACKAGE(Python COMPONENTS Development)
     FIND_PACKAGE(Python QUIET COMPONENTS Interpreter)